FAQs: Workday & Your Team

Q: What will I be able to see in Workday as a manager?A: What you can see and what you can do in Workday is based on security, and your assigned security role is based on your job. If you are a Workday Manager, you will be able to view all business information about your staff. Examples of business information include compensation and emergency contact information. You will also be able to initiate or approve business processes for your staff.

Q: How do managers know what the next step is in a business process?A: A To Do or business sub-process will appear in your Workday Inbox if there is an additional step to complete a particular business process.

Q: Will you be able to view the status of a business process that you initiated?A: Yes, you will be able to view the business process and its status in Workday.

Q: How will someone who handles the budget in a department be informed of a job change that has a budget implication?A: If a job change has budget implications, those individuals responsible for overseeing budget responsibilities as they relate to staffing will have an approval step in the business process.

Q: What is an HR Coordinator?A: An HR Coordinator will be assigned for every department. The designated HR Coordinator will be able to view, initiate, and approve business processes within his or her designated department or supervisory organization. The role of HR Coordinator resides with the position. When an employee changes his or her position, security access will be reassigned automatically.

Q: Will the current online employment system for hiring a staff member still be used?A: Yes, the Workday system is not used for recruiting, and it is only available to those who have a Workday account with a Brown user ID and password. Therefore, potential employees will not be able to access the system to submit their employment applications. Our current online employment system, supported by PeopleAdmin, may be upgraded or replaced by an alternative system in the future; however, we will use the current applicant tracking system for recruiting.

Q: Will I be able to see if someone in my area has requested the same day off?A: No, however a Workday Manager will be able to view the requests from all of their direct reports and approve time accordingly. An Absence Partner will be able to view all time off requests in a department or organization.

Q: How can tasks be delegated?A: Approval of certain business processes can be delegated in Workday. It is important to note that the initiation of a business processes cannot be delegated; however, a variety of security roles such as the HR Coordinator, HR Business Partner, and HR Generalist can initiate a business process, as can the Workday Manager directly. In addition, a person can temporarily delegate processes awaiting approval in his or her inbox for a limited time period while out of the office (e.g., vacation).

Q: Will managers be able to view information and run reports about terminated employees?A: A terminated employee does not appear if a manager looks at My Team. However, a manager can search for, find, and view history on an employee terminated from that manager's supervisory organization. Workers with only employee as self roles cannot view information on a terminated employee. Information on terminated employees is available for reporting as long as the user has security access to that data source.

Q: Will students have access to Workday?A: Yes, students who work will have access to Employee Self Service in Workday.

Q: Will students be hired using Workday?A: Yes, Workday will replace the current student personal action form (or SPAF) as students will be hired directly into Workday. However, JobX may continue to be used as a recruitment tool for student workers.

Q: Who will approve student time sheets?A: The approver of student time sheets will depend on the structure of a particular department and the volume of student workers within that department. The individual approving a student’s time sheet may not be a student worker's direct supervisor responsible for delegating and monitoring work. Departments will be encouraged to have a centralized position responsible for reviewing and approving all time sheets for staff and students.

Q: How will graduate students be hired?A: Graduate students will be hired directly through the Graduate School. Associated processes for hiring graduate students will be communicated prior to the Workday go live date in July 2012.

Q: Could I hire my graduate student as an hourly student worker in Workday?A: No, if graduate students are receiving a stipend, they can only be on the monthly payroll. If they are not receiving a stipend, they are eligible to work on the hourly student payroll.

Q: Who is included in My Team that Workday Managers see?A: As a Workday Manager, you will see a worklet on your My Team landing page, called My Team. This is where you will view the business information for the direct reports in your supervisory organization.

Q: Why am I not included in my own supervisory organization?A: Only your direct reports will be in your supervisory organization where you may review their business information and perform business processes. You will be in your manager's supervisory organization.

Q: What is an inherited supervisor?A: If the position of Workday Manager of a supervisory organization is vacant, the supervisory organization will automatically roll up under the next level manager, who is the inherited supervisor of the supervisory organization until the Workday Manager position is filled. The inherited supervisor can perform all the same tasks of the Workday Manager, which includes viewing business information and performing business processes.

Q: How can I distinguish between a worker's primary position and secondary position?A: A plus sign (+) appears after the secondary position.